Tire Code Inspection: When One Camera Wasn't Enough

We recently worked with a global tire manufacturer on an automated tire identification project.

The customer needed to read the code on every tire as it moved through production.

At the beginning of the project, everyone focused on the barcode itself.

Could the scanner decode the code reliably on a curved rubber surface?

After reviewing the application, we discovered that decoding wasn't actually the biggest challenge.

One camera simply couldn't see enough.

The tire was too large, and the required installation distance was fixed by the production equipment.

A single camera could only capture part of the inspection area.

Even though the code was readable, it wasn't always fully visible within one camera's field of view.

Changing to a wider lens wasn't an ideal solution either, because the code became smaller in the image and reduced decoding reliability.

Instead of trying to force one camera to do everything, we designed the system using three synchronized imaging units.

Each camera captured a different section of the inspection area, and our software stitched the three images together into one complete view before decoding.

The solution wasn't a better barcode reader—it was giving the software enough visual information to work with.

This allowed the customer to keep the required installation position while reliably reading the complete code without modifying the production line layout.

One lesson we've learned is that machine vision projects aren't always limited by decoding capability. Sometimes the real limitation is simply what a single camera can physically see.

Has anyone here worked on tire manufacturing, large industrial products, or other applications where one camera wasn't enough to cover the entire inspection area?

Did you solve it with multiple cameras, image stitching, or a different approach?

Many of our product improvements have come directly from OEM projects, so we're always interested in hearing about real integration challenges and application requirements. We'd love to know what you're working on.

#MachineVision #IndustrialAutomation #TireManufacturing #DataMatrix #BarcodeInspection #ImageStitching #OEM #XTIOT